Life vest



July 1962 D. M. BASHORE 3, 7

LIFE VEST Filed April 24, 1961 INVENTOR. 00 M ems/MAE BY M A TTORNE YUnited States Patent 3,042,947 LEE VEST Don M. Rasher-e, Alexandria,Va., assignor to United States Rubber Company, New York, N.Y., acorporation of New Jersey Filed Apr. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 105,219 8Claims. ((11. 9338) This invention relates to an improved life vest, andin particular to life Vests which are constructed so that they may bequickly donned by the wearer and yet will not become detached from thebody when the wearer jumps into water from an elevated position.

Heretofore, it has not been possible to construct a life vest with awaist band as the sole body attaching means Without also providing meansfor adjusting the neck or head opening as the force of impact with thewater when jumping from an elevated position would elongate and enlargethe head opening and cause the life vest to pass over the head of thewearer. The vest would thus become useless if the condition of thewearer were such that he or she would not be able to put the life veston again.

Accordingl it is an object of this invention to provide such a life vestwhich will not become detached from the wearer under such conditions.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a life vest which iscompletely reversible and which has a minimum of body attaching means sothat the vest can be quickly donned in an emergency.

Another object of this invention is to provide a life vest which has anextremely simplified construction.

According to the present invention, the life vest is made up of at leasttwo laminated layers of cellular elastomeric material having a headopening and a waist band for attaching the vest to the body of thewearer. At least one strip of relatively iuextensible material ispositioned between the cellular layers on each side of the head openingso that the strips extend over the shoulders. The strips are adhered tothe cellular material so as to restrict the elongation of the headopening in the direction of the force which results from impact with thewater.

The invention, its objects and advantages are further described inreference to the accompanying drawings, where- 1n:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a life vest constructed according to theinstant invention; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the life vest 10 has a generally rectangular shapewith a head or neck opening 11 positioned in approximately the center ofthe uppermost half thereof. The head opening 11 separates front portion12 and back portion 13 which extend over the chest and back of the headrespectively of the wearer. The opening 11 has the configuration of anellipse and is of such a size in a relaxed state as to accommodate theneck of the Wearer while being smaller than the head of the wearer. Atypical life vest will measure about 26 inches in length and about 14inches in width with the major axis of the head opening measuring 8inches and the minor axis measuring 6 inches. In order to place the headthrough the opening 11, the wearer will exert a force primarily alongthe minor axis of the head opening to elongate the opening mainly inthat direction. The elongation is made possible by employing anelastomeric material for the body of the life vest.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vest is made from a laminate of two layers 14,15 of cellular elastomeric material. A typical life vest will employ atwo-layer laminate measuring about 2% inches in total thickness. Anycellular elastomeric material can be employed in the practice of thisinvention, such as cellular natural rubber, synthetic rubbers orextensible plastics. However, it is preferred to employ a light-weightclosed cell, cellular material composed essentially of a vulcanized,gas-expanded homogeneous blend of a thermoplastic vinyl resin, a highboiling organic liquid plasticizer for the vinyl resin, and a rubberybutadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer. This material is substantiallyentirely of the closed-cell type, as shown by the very low absorption ofWater when submerged therein for prolonged periods of time. Such amaterial is disclosed in U.S. Patent 2,570,182, issued October 9, 1951,to Daly et al. This material also contains a chemical blowing agent andvulcanizing ingredients which are consumed in the process of making theproduct. The preferred method of manufacturing this material isdisclosed in U.S. Patent No. 2,901,774, issued September 1, 1959, toPooley. A typical formulation is as follows, wherein the proportions areby weight:

Compound: Parts Vinylite VYNW (copolymer of vinyl chloride and 5% vinylacetate) 140 Dioctyl phthalate (plasticizer) 40 Antimony xid 20 UnicelND (dinitrosopenta-methylene-tetramine) 36 Coumarone-indene resin l02,5-di-tertiary butyl meta-cresol 10 Titanium dioxide 20 Calciumsilicate 10 Zinc oxide 6 Calcium stearate Y 6 Barium-cadmium laurate l2Stearic acid 2 Salicylic acid 2 Benzothiazyl disulfide l Sulfur 4Paracril C (rubbery butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer, about 35%acrylonitrile) Butyl Eight (dibutyl ammonium dibutyl dithio- Icarbamate) f 2 As the material employed for the layers 14, 15 isflexible as well as being extensible, the laminate forming the body ofthe life vest is made flat without curvature so that the vest iscompletely reversible. It should be clear that more than two flat sheetscan be employed in making the laminated body of the life vest ifdesired.

A strip of relatively inextensible, flexible material is provided oneach side of the head opening 11 to restrict the elongation of theopening in the direction of its major axis. The pair of strips 16, 17are positioned parallel to the major axis of the head opening and extendfrom the back portion 13 to the front portion 12 over the shoulder areaof the life vest. More than one restricting strip may be used on eachside of the head opening if desired, especially if the body of the vestis made of more than two layers or sheets of cellular material. Therestricting strips may be formed of any inextensible, flexible materialsuch as fabric or metal wires. However, it is preferred to employ anylon fabric of the type disclosed in U.S. Patent 2,619,705, issuedDecember 2, 1952, to Foster. It is also preferred to coat the nylonfabric with a vinyl resin so as to improve the adhesion of the strips tothe flat sheets of the laminated body of the vest. As shown in thedrawings, the strips 16, 17 are positioned between the layers ofcellular material and adhered thereto with a suitable cement, which ispreferably waterproof. The same cement can be used to adhere the layers.14, 15 together where there is no intervening fabric. In a typical lifevest, the strips 16, 17 will 'be about 17 inches long and about 2%inches in width and will come within of an inch from the head opening11. It has been found that if the life vestis con- The vest isattached'to.

str iictd without sash ,'elongation restricting strips, the

7 vest will be forced over the head of a wearer jumping from 't ff y ofw e ibyla e was: pandas, which is preferabl ebbing; is attachdgtothebody of the -tachin g strip :19 extendsfacrossithe front portion i12of the velst,,the attachingfband or strip 19 will "have a idthof about 6inchesfand will extend about one inchon eithersideofthe vest body tofoi'm tabs '20, ginnin bound d es,- -Ih attaching strip 19 'p tinnedadhered between the sheets of cellular material in thefsame manner asrestrictingstrips lfian'd 17 and, for the. sake of convenience, may beforrhedof the same material. It is preferred to have the attaching strip19 at- .tachedto the restricting strips 16, 17, as by the overlapLioint'shownin' FIG. 2 at"22. If desired, the elongation re- ,strictingstrips 16,117 and the attaching strip 19 maybe formed from a singlepiece of fabric, pair of D rings 23, 2-4 are sew n with nylon thread tothe tabs 20, 21. Of

' jfa fle'i ibleattachingstrip 19.. The atwest-l0 parallel to therninor'airi slof the. 'opening 11. In a course, the D rings 23, 24 could beattached by other rneans, such as riveting. The waist band 18 has a snap25 with adjustable D rings 26 at each end thereof (only one .end'being'shown in the drawings) to enable'the user to adjust the vest by pullingon either end offthe band. The single Waist band allows the'life vest tobe 'put on from either side. 'If' desired, a protective coating 27 maybe 'applied to the outer surface of the cellular laminated vest .body.Preferably, this coating is composed of a plasticized vinyl resinapplied to the assembledicellular laminate'by a dipping operation. Asuitable color, such as International Orange, is impart ed to thecoating 27'by emp i fi an pp r te igm nt in t e. res 7. i Whilethegpreferred'form of this invention has been described herein, it will beunderstood that changes in the r ietails thereof may be madewithoufdeparting' from the spirit of this invention, and it is intendedto cover all those {changes which come within the scope of the appendedI; Iavi;ig1thusi described my invention, what I claim and desiretojpro'te'c tbyletters Patent is: I e 7 V r 1,,- V nrsves m' prising atleast two. layersofcellular 'elastomeric material 'having a .headopening extending therethrough,- at leastone strip of relativelyinextensible, flexible material on eachside of said head opening attend4 ing over the shoulders, said strips being positioned between saidlayers of cellular material and adhered thereto so as to restrict theelongation of the head opening, and a waist band for attaching thevestto the body of the wearer. v 7

v2.. A life vest comprising at least twoggenerally rectangular flatsheets of cellular elastdmric' material" having an opening thereinthrough wliichthehe'ad ofthe wearer is adapted to, eXteridjoi-mingfrontand back portions adapted to extend over the chest and back ofthe headrespectively'of the wearer, at least one strip of relativelyinextensiblefabric aneach side of said opening extending from saidbackportion 'tolsaid frontfportion over the shoulder area, said fstripsbeing positioned between said cellular sheets'and adhered-thereto so istorestrict the elongation of said openingjand '21 waist band'asthe solebody attaching means.

3. A life vest comprising two generally 'rectangular fiat laminatedsheets of cellul'afelastomeric material'having an elliptical head:opening'extendin'g 'thefe'through, said head opening a relaxed statebeing of a size smaller than the wearers head, a strip 'of relativelyinextensible fabric on each ,side of'said opehing extending over theshoulders and parallel to the major axis of said opening, said stripsbeing positionedbetwe en said cellular sheets and being adheredtheretoso as to restrict the elongation of said opening along the major axis,and a Waist band as the sole body. attaching means.

. A life vest as defined wherein the waist 'band is attached to thelaminated sheets bylineans of an 'attaching strip extend-ing parallel tothe mi'nor' axis of the head opening, said attaching strip beingpositioned between and adheredto said cellular sheets withthe endportions thereof extending beyond the'lamin'ated sheets forattachmentlto said waist-band.

5. A life vest as defined in 1mm 4 wherein said elon- "gationrestricting strips and said attaching strip are formedfrorn a singlepiecepf fabric. i 6. A life vest 'asdefined n claim 4 whereinthe'elongationrestlictingstrips are joined'to said aftach'ing'strip bymeans ofj'an 'overlap joint.

7. A ,life vest as defined in claim 3 'wherein"a protec- 'tive coatingis applied to t-he" outer surfacefoft-he laminated sheets. V p a 8. 'A lif e vest as defined inclaim 3 where-m ne cellular elastomeric materialis composed of a thermoplastic vinyl resin, a high-boiling organic,liquid as aplasticizer there-for, and a rubbery butadiene'acrylonitrilecopolymer and the strips are composed of 'a nylon fabric.

